This is my third and last day in Jogjakarta, so far we have visited Prambanan, Kalibiru, Borobudur, and various other places in Jogjakarta and Magelang. Today we woke up at 3.30 a.m to catch sunrise from a hill facing range of mountain and Borobudur temple, the site is called Punthuk Setumbu. It is a popular hill for local photographers to take picture of Borobudur at sunrise, however it has to be done using telephoto lens.

Today we rent a car with the driver as well for $40 until our departure to the airport at 6 p.m. We started trip from hotel to Punthuk Setumbu at 3.45 a.m. because it took 15 minutes to the parking lot and another 30 minutes hike from the parking lot to the viewpoint. It’s best to use comfortable shoes and trousers for the hike, and bring a flashlight too! It was dark and the rocky path is quite steep along the hiking path.

At the viewpoint I set up my tripod next to other photographers and I have to use my pocket camera, Fujifilm X30 for the telephoto lens, because I only have 14mm on my XT1. At first it was still very dark and the mountain couldn’t be seen clearly, so I set my camera upward and capture the stars on the sky.

After less than an hour waiting, the sky turned orange and the fog could be clearly seen, including Borobudur temple at the right side of image. The clear view of Borobudur doesn’t last long though, after 15-20 minutes the fog is getting thick and covered the whole landscape.

At seven we descent the hill and drive back to the hotel for shower and breakfast. We finished up and check out at 9 a.m., continuing our trip to Mount Pindul to see landscape and a river-cave. It is a long trip from Borobudur to Mount Pindul taking about 2 hours drive. The first site we visited is actually a hiking path, we only got to the first base and get back due to time constraint. Hiking to the third base would take approximately three hours and another three hours back, so we decided to stop only at the first base which is 15 minutes hike only.

The second stop is a river-cave, where we have to use a rubber tube on the water and get our clothes wet. I didn’t prepare for it, so I after the activity I have to take shower again and change clothes. It is a 15 minute ride inside a cave and I managed to secure my camera dry (Fujifilm XT1 is weather-resistant though) to take few decent shots.

After taking shower nearby the ticketing area, we headed back to the city but first transit at Bukit Bintang for lunch. It is a restaurant with view to the city and surrounding landscape. Since it was still 1 p.m., we still have time to visit Ratu Boko ruins, another famous landmark in Yogyakarta. Ratu Boko ruins is located just 20 minutes from airport, so we think we could make it to Adi Sudjipto airport.

Ratu Boko complex is very huge, even the entrance path to the ruins could take 10 minutes walk, and another 10 minutes to the inner complex. Due to time and energy constraints, we only walked through half of the area, then went back to the parking lot and organise our backpack for the flight.

And that was it for the trip! We were dropped in the airport, I ate KFC before the flight and we flew back home.

WP